Proof that the nuclear industry has been dodging its responsibilities for over 50 years

Information released today by Greenpeace Japan shows that the builders and suppliers of nuclear reactors were afraid of being held financially responsible for any accidents they might cause from the outset of the nuclear energy era in Japan.

But what if a nuclear company is grossly negligent? It needn’t worry. The Commission’s documents say:

"...we decided to delete 'gross negligence' to not make suppliers feel uneasy"

We wouldn’t want nuclear suppliers to feel uneasy, would we? But uneasy is the way the Japanese people must be feeling when they see the size of the costs of the Fukushima disaster that they are now having to pay.

And this is a state of affairs that continues to this day.

What this proves is the nuclear industry has never had any faith in the safety of its nuclear reactors. If it did, why would it have worked so hard to be protected from its responsibilities?

It’s an admission that nuclear power is inherently unsafe and that the nuclear industry is not able and willing to deal with a major accident. They’ve known this from the very beginning.

We’re seeing what all this means right now at Fukushima, as its owner and operator, TEPCO, is unable to fund the clean-up. GE, Hitachi and Toshiba, the big companies that all built reactors at Fukushima based on a flawed GE reactor design, have not paid a cent to help TEPCO and have done little to nothing to help the victims of the disaster.

We know who really needs “an indemnification from nuclear liability”. Us, the people, who have to live with nuclear power and all its dangers and who have its massive costs forced upon us. The nuclear industry has put its own interests and those of its shareholders above the people it is supposed to be serving.

The nuclear industry has been allowed to write its own rules for more than 50 years, as the documents we’ve made public show. It’s time those rules were scrapped and the nuclear industry disqualified from the game it’s been playing with all our lives.

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(Unregistered) Brickhead
says:

Megalomaniacs are always motivated by short term power and greed, they have no connection or concept of the consequences for tomorrow. Their sickness ...

Megalomaniacs are always motivated by short term power and greed, they have no connection or concept of the consequences for tomorrow. Their sickness is so deep in the psychie they often believe they are truly doing good for mankind.
The internet by working in and at the speed of light is exposing this previously hidden sickness to the masses, creating an unstoppable worldwide eruption of corruption that will force those in highest office to be fully accountable for their actions.

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(Unregistered) Bev
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Dear Greenpeace, You have done so much, I thank you. In my looking for information about Fukushima I see your petition that calls for the builders of ...

Dear Greenpeace, You have done so much, I thank you. In my looking for information about Fukushima I see your petition that calls for the builders of Fukushima, G.E., Hitachi and Toshiba, to pay for this knowable disaster. Greenpeace please also talk to the people at The American Monetary Institute http://www.monetary.org/ for the way to be able to FULLY AFFORD trying to fix Fukushima with a public/government DEBT-FREE, INTEREST-FREE money. See what you think. They could use your help. You could use their help. And, Fukushima needs the help of the best engineers and ample funding.

Interview Arnie Gundersen, Rep. John Conyers and former Rep. Dennis Kucinich about the need of a public/government debt-free money to afford to even try to fix Fukushima safely and correctly. Quoting Harvey Wasserman: “We are now within two months of what may be humankind’s most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Fukushima’s badly damaged Unit 4. There is no excuse for not acting. All the resources our species can muster must be focused on the fuel pool at Fukushima Unit 4.... The one thing certain about this crisis is that Tepco does not have the scientific, engineering or financial resources to handle it. Nor does the Japanese government. The situation demands a coordinated worldwide effort of the best scientists and engineers our species can muster.” (And, Money, I would add.)

Olympic Insanity + If Gundersen were in Charge at Fukushima
Libbe HaLevy from Nuclear Hotseat radio interviewed Arnie Gundersen about the current state of problems at Fukushima Daiichi and asks what he would do if he were in charge of the disaster site.
………

Harvey Wasserman references Arnie Gundersen and makes strong demands to do this correctly in his following article. See:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/09/20-1
Published, September 20, 2013 by Common Dreams

The Crisis at Fukushima’s Unit 4 Demands a Global Take-Over
by Harvey Wasserman

We are now within two months of what may be humankind’s most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis.Fukushima’s badly damaged Unit 4.

There is no excuse for not acting. All the resources our species can muster must be focused on the fuel pool at Fukushima Unit 4.

Fukushima’s owner, Tokyo Electric (Tepco), says that within as few as 60 days it may begin trying to remove more than 1300 spent fuel rods from a badly damaged pool perched 100 feet in the air. The pool rests on a badly damaged building that is tilting, sinking and could easily come down in the next earthquake, if not on its own.

Some 400 tons of fuel in that pool could spew out more than 15,000 times as much radiation as was released at Hiroshima.

The one thing certain about this crisis is that Tepco does not have the scientific, engineering or financial resources to handle it. Nor does the Japanese government. The situation demands a coordinated worldwide effort of the best scientists and engineers our species can muster.

snip

We have two months or less to act.

For now, we are petitioning the United Nations and President Obama to mobilize the global scientific and engineering community to take charge at Fukushima and the job of moving these fuel rods to safety.

If you have a better idea, please follow it. But do something and do it now

.............

Arnie Gundersen on a visit to Japan was told that Japan does not have the money to fix the problem the correct, safest way. This is a world problem, not just Japan’s. We all need to help.

In order to have the public/government Debt-free, Interest-free money to fix Fukushima, I think the American Monetary Institute has the best solution. The site is at http://www.monetary.org/ and is headed by Stephen Zarlenga, Director, along with former U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich. A past supporter is current U.S. Representative John Conyers. This topic should be foremost to the politicians most affected: U.S. Senators from California, Oregon and Washington need to be interviewed, called, emailed, visited about al bill that needs to be re-introduced fast, HR 2990, see: http://www.monetary.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/HR-2990.pdf

And, a similar bill should be passed in Japan.

American Monetary Institute
PO BOX 601
VALATIE, NY 12184

Phone
518-392-5387
or 224-805-2200
E-mail

Note: the following Speakers at the just finished 9th conference would work to get the public money needed in the U.S. and Japan to fix Fukushima and save lives and life on this planet. See:

The American Monetary Institute is pleased to announce its
9th Annual AMI Monetary Reform Conference
September 19-22, 2013, at University Center, Chicago

The American Monetary Institute proudly announces its 9th annual Monetary Reform Conference in Chicago. Our conferences launched the modern grass roots movement for U.S. monetary reform and thereby World reform. You are invited to attend this important meeting in beautiful downtown Chicago. Our money system clearly needs a serious overhaul to secure economic justice, peace and prosperity as we enter the third millennium. True reform, not mere regulation, is necessary to move humanity away from a World dominated by fraud, warfare and ugliness and toward a world of justice and beauty. You can avoid discouragement and join with us in this adventure to achieve positive money results for America and the world.

Don’t be discouraged because the villians who created the present crisis, have manipulated governments to bail them out. The media, which has made such “errors” possible, and the economic theories behind banker activities already stand accused in the public mind.

Main Themes of the Conference: Implementing Monetary Reform now!

The Monetary Reforms
The main focus of the conference will be for researchers to describe and make the case for the kind of monetary reforms advocated, presenting both the logical and historical basis for them, and the mechanics of implementing them. Extensive question and answer periods and panel discussions can air doubts or concerns regarding the desirability of the reforms and suggest refinements. Included will be discussions of research and thinking methodology.

Achieving the Reforms – What we can do now
Selected political, social and monetary activists will give the benefit of their experience in educating, raising public awareness, organizing and motivating people and governmental bodies to influence public policy decisions.

Using the Reforms
Presentations on how a properly reconstituted money power within government will be effectively used to “promote the general welfare”. These will focus on Infrastructure Programs particularly how to pay for the $2.2 trillion the American Society of Civil Engineers tells us is needed to maintain our infrastructure over the next 5 years, through monetary reform. Understand that we include the “human infrastructure” of Health Care and Education within infrastructure! With proper monetary reform all these things become possible, including education and health, upgrading America’s crumbling infrastructure, towards futuristic energy efficient, eco-friendly designs well within the reach of today’s technology and economy. We can create hospitable, clean, cities of the future using 21st century solutions.

Confirmed Speakers for 2013

Prof. Joseph Huber from Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, one of Europe’s most important monetary reformers, will analyze Modern Money Theory and the associated views on money, credit, and debt.

Dr. Michael Kumhof, Deputy Division Chief of the Modeling Division, Research Department, IMF, will present his findings when applying the Chicago Plan, basis of HR 2990, to today’s economy using computer modeling techniques.

Prof. Kaoru Yamaguchi will give an outstanding analysis of HR 2990, placing it through his advanced systems analysis software, determining it would pay off the US national debt and provide the necessary funding for infrastructure (solving the unemployment problem) and do it without inflation.

Prof. Steve Keen, advanced Australian banking and monetary investigator, author of the important book “Debunking Economics,” which can begin leading the way out of the economic morass which economics has undeniably created around the world.

Prof. Richard Werner has emerged as the central figure advising monetary authorities of the European money system to cease their destructive austerity programs, and he will discuss his involvement with this issue.

Prof. Nic Tideman of Virginia Tech (formerly Senior Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors) discusses how banks will compete after monetary reforms are in place.

Prof. Michael Hudson, UMKC professor and PBS commentator and one of the rare economists to accurately forecast the mortgage and housing debacle – in a front page Harper’s Magazine article – will share his latest important observations on what the banking establishment is up to now.

Stephen Zarlenga is Director of the American Monetary Institute and author of The Lost Science of Money. He will highlight the progress at AMI, and the direction of monetary reform in America.

Jamie Walton, a knowledgeable money reformer from New Zealand, describes HR 2990 and why all three elements must be put into effect. He works on monetary legislation in Washington DC.

Robert Poteat, long term and meticulous monetary researcher, is certainly among the top half dozen in America in awareness of monetary systems. He is the leader of the AMI Chapters in Portland, Seattle and Central Washington. Previously he has discussed why monetary reform is largely a moral question.

Joseph Pijanowski, the Directing Business Representative of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union, Local 126, focuses on the monetary solution to American labor problems our country faces.

Mark Pash is a Certified Financial Planner with a Bachelors and Masters in Business Administration, from UCLA and USC respectively. He will review his 24 reasons for monetary reform and the 13 ways to overcome the inflationary objection.

Andrew Jackson is currently Head of Research at Positive Money in the UK. He will discuss Positive Money’s strategy for progressing the monetary reform agenda in the UK, before showing how this links into his latest research, a proposal to combine monetary and fiscal policy which will allow the state to create and spend money into circulation.

Greg Coleridge, Director of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. He is on the National Steering Committee of the Move to Amend/Campaign to Legalize Democracy Program on Corporations, Law & Democracy (POCLAD) national collective.

Steven Walsh, leading Chicago educator and expert authority on New England Colonial moneys, will describe how banks create money out of thin air.

Joe Bongiovanni
…………

This would be the way to have the money to pay for the best engineering attempts to try to solve Fukushima. Then if we are smart, caring, and lucky enough to succeed, then afterwards, still having the money available from a Debt-free, Interest-free public/government money would turn this economy around fast and create jobs to solve many other pressing problems. Money would continue to do good works by permanently circulating unlike Debt money which is extinguished from existence once paid back as payments on banks loans. We can never get out of debt when our money is debt. And, we have done this six times in our past with brave Presidents like Washington, Lincoln and Kennedy. It is tried and true. Support and Protect all politicians who would do this beneficial monetary change for all of us. And, support those politicians who would fix Fukushima safely for all of us.

And, I do want to make the point that if government shuts down driven by the GOP’s un-funding of healthcare, they are shutting down our urgent need and ability to help ourselves, our world and our future existence by not addressing and reducing the great risks of a poorly funded, poorly engineered attempt at Fukushima. Then healthcare or any other topic will matter little, if we are irradiated and the outcome is genocide, specicide. The lack of a real attempt to fix this is unacceptable. Please interview very soon the above people for the best efforts as we may be able to save each other.

Another note, the near decade long building and supplying of caves by Bush/Cheney for a few to perhaps survive, but, yet not try best solutions, is not acceptable. The GOP cannot shut down government and run to caves. Where are all the politicians across the entire spectrum, and all the people across our nation, Japan, and the world who would want to solve this problem for life on this planet?

I wish us courage, luck, the best information and best solutions.

We have to try the best engineering with enough funding. Good luck to us all.

Workings of A Public Money System of Open Macroeconomies
– Modeling the American Monetary Act Completed –
(A Revised Version)
Kaoru Yamaguchi
Doshisha University

And from Europe Michael Kumhof:

The Chicago Plan Revisited, Michael Kumhof (Deputy Division Chief, Modeling Dept., IMF) applies modern computer modeling to the Chicago Plan, which support the monetary reforms of HR 2990 and dispel the widespread fears of inflation under a government money system.

The bill that all countries need to introduce, HR 2990 http://www.monetary.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/HR-2990.pdf , to change our money system away from Bankers' DEBT based money which only profit Banks. However, even Bankers should support this bill, because, if we lack money for best engineering efforts to even try to fix Fukushima safely, correctly, and so fail disastrously, then bankers will not profit, and may not survive any better than anyone else. So bankers, what do you say? There is more profit to staying alive by not being irradiated, than profit in a broken, disintegrating debt money system.

http://www.monetary.org/american-money-scene-5-august-16-2009/2009/08

Historical experience has taught us what we need to do:

1. Put the Federal Reserve System into the U.S. Treasury.

2. Stop the banking system creating any part of the money supply.

3. Create new money as needed by spending it on public infrastructure, including human infrastructure, e.g. education and health care.

These 3 elements must all be done together, and are all in draft legislative form as the proposed American Monetary Act [In September 2011, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced the National Emergency Employment Defense (NEED) Act, HR 2990, into Congress. View details here http://www.monetary.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/HR-2990.pdf ].

The correct action is for Congress to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities to furnish the nation with its money by making the American Monetary Act law.

The correct action for the States is to insist on this Federal action!

Genuine monetary reform is the solution to the nation’s fiscal problems, and that can only be achieved at the national level.

snip

We don’t need any more diversions.

We citizens have only so much energy and time to devote to changing our world for the better. Diverting good people into nonsense condemns us to continue suffering unnecessarily. This time of crisis must be used for real reform, not diversions.

So what is the solution?

It’s the monetary system which must be changed to end the fiscal crisis, and State governments cannot do this – it’s a matter for the Federal Government.

Under present constitutional and legal conventions, the only institutions that can create money without debt are national treasuries and/or central banks. State governments within a federal nation cannot do this – the problem can only be solved at the national level.

Proposals promoting anything else would require a constitutional amendment, which is not necessary.

snip

We have a big problem in our economy and society today: too much debt. Banking cannot solve this problem because banking produces debt, which is the problem. It’s incredible that even now the delusion of borrowing ourselves out of debt is still seen as a solution, by anyone, let alone so-called reformers. We’re in a deep hole because we listened to cheerleaders yelling “keep on digging” without thinking. We cannot afford to keep doing this any more.

Proposing to get governments involved in banking is the complete opposite of a solution, because it keeps the problem in place.

This is a global issue and regardless of where you live, these seminars have lessons for all of us to learn. For those who are unable to attend, the New York and Boston panel can be heard on a live feed at http://www.livestream.com/fuku... , these webcasts will be archived at the link for at least 30 days once live.

Please help by spreading the word about these two very significant events. See all the details here. The Facebook page is live. Please make sure you "like" it, invite all your friends and mark "going". If you're on Twitter, we'll be Tweeting from @ongoinglessons using #fukushimalessons for all of our posts.
...

A panel of speakers that includes the former Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan; former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Ralph Nader, political activist, author, attorney and lecturer; Dr. Gregory Jaczko; former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford; and nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen, is scheduled to share their perspectives on nuclear safety and the future of nuclear power. The panel will specifically address concerns regarding Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant now operating with an expired license in Buchanan, New York. The seminar will be held in New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 8. More speakers will be announced.

Kan was in office in March 2011 when an earthquake and tsunami triggered the catastrophe at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant. He was confronted by three reactor meltdowns and a nuclear crisis that persists to this day.

Newest panel addition, Ralph Nader has been opposed to nuclear power since the 1970s and he later founded the Critical Mass Energy Project. Nader was recently named by The Atlantic as one of the 100 most influential figures in American history, one of only four living people to be so honored. He has launched two major presidential campaigns and founded or organized more than one hundred civic organizations.

Jaczko was the Chairman of the NRC during the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the catastrophe at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. He was confronted by three reactor meltdowns and a nuclear crisis that persists to this day. In 2012, Jaczko cast the lone dissenting vote on plans to build the first new nuclear power plant in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

Earlier this year on June 4, 2013, Jaczko, Bradford and Gunderson were joined by Japan’s former Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, where they spoke at the San Diego County Administrative Center about their concerns regarding the safety of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Three days after the panel, the plant was closed permanently.

U.S. citizens are now questioning the safety of the Indian Point nuclear power plants. In the event of a catastrophe like Fukushima, this plant would threaten millions. A nuclear disaster at Indian Point would threaten the entire population of New York City and the outlying metropolitan area.

The panel discussion is open to the public and news media.

For media and the public who are unable to attend, the New York and Boston panel can be heard on a live feed at http://new.livestream.com/FukushimaLessons/newyork, these webcasts will be archived at the link for at least 30 days once live.

For more information on the Boston panel, join our Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1451208401770859/

To preregister for the panel, head here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FukushimaLessonsforNY

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(Unregistered) Bev
says:

Link in above article now misdirects link. The following is correct: http://new.livestream.com/FukushimaLessons/newyork
RALPH NADER TO JOIN FOR...

Link in above article now misdirects link. The following is correct: http://new.livestream.com/FukushimaLessons/newyork
RALPH NADER TO JOIN FORMER JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER NAOTO KAN AND OTHERS FOR NUCLEAR PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Seminars to focus on ongoing lessons from Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear catastrophe and the future of nuclear power in New York and Boston.

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(Unregistered) Bev
says:

15-Point Plan: Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds.org and an international team of scientists created a 15-point plan to address the crise...

15-Point Plan: Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds.org and an international team of scientists created a 15-point plan to address the crises at Fukushima. See:
http://www.nirs.org/fukushima/expert-ltr-bankimoon-09-2013.pdf
(Note: I tried copying and fixing the breaks mid-word and -sentence. Don't know how well it will reproduce here, but thought it very worthwhile to try)

September 13, 2013

The Honorable Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General
The United Nations
c/o United National Non Government Liaison Service

Dear Secretary,

We write to you in urgency. The situation around the world at radioactively contaminated sites is not good, and it is clear that the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor site is progressively deteriorating, not stabilizing. We write because of your personal interest in a sustainable future, but also because you are the Executive for global organizations charged with protection of the public's health, public safety and the common good when it comes to radioactivity, radiation and nuclear technology. Together we call upon you to act immediately to:

1. Prevail upon international organizations and Japan to replace TEPCO with a worldwide engineering group to take charge of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

2. Appoint a group of experts independent from either TEPCO or IAEA to advise the new engineering group to establish a risk informed stabilization, containment and remediation plan for Fukushima.

3. Create a well-funded oversight panel of local citizens and local elected officials to ensure transparency and accountability of both of the above groups, as well as to facilitate well-informed self-determination and further recovery of the impacted populations.

4. Call upon the Japanese government to admit financial costs in excess of $500B USD.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE92417Y20130308?irpc=932 ;
And Gundersen, Arnold, http://www.amazon.co.jp/ ( see PDF for more links in Japanese)

5. Call upon the Japanese government to assure adequate funding for decontamination of the prefecture and site.

6. Call upon the Japanese government to cease the massive incineration program underway in Japan which carts and burns rubble from the earthquake and tsunami, much of it toxic and some of it radioactive, in municipal incinerators.

In addition to the action plan outlined above, we have broader concerns about radiological accounting and regulation that United Nations agencies such as the World Health Organization(WHO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)have already engaged in. With regard to the Fukushima nuclear disaster other UNAgencies, like the High Commission on Human Rights, have recognized how this accounting is not serving humanity.

7. Any projection of total cancers or deaths from the Fukushima disaster is premature; and any previous publications need to be viewed as "speculative" at best. It is clear now that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is far from over, and that there can be no credible estimate of total environmental or human health impacts because the radiological release has not ceased and the outcomes from exposing large populations to low doses over long time frames is unclear. A final estimation of the radiological release from the Fukushima Daiichi site, of necessity lies in the future; perhaps the distant future. Therefore, it remains of utmost importance to monitor radioactivity and provide and increase protective measures to individuals and communities. When future updates to such studies are done, it must be incumbent upon the researchers to revise previous findings, not merely extend them, since it is known that key data from the past were not included--such as the World Health Organization omitting the radiation exposures to members of the public prior to being evacuated (the first 4 days of the disaster; Becker, Oda 2012:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/briefings/nuclear/2013/2012_OdaBecker.pdf ). In addition Japanese physicians and scientists in Japan must be allowed and supported to treat and report Fukushima related health consequences. Nuclear calamities to date result in institutional pressure to under report and even distort patient health data and other evidence (see, for example: The Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, Final Report http://archive.org/details/advisorycommitte00unit and Steven Wing et al. (1997). "A reevaluation of cancer incidence near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant: the collision of evidence and assumptions". Environmental Health Perspectives (Brogan & Partners) 105 (1): 52 – 57.) Such institutional pressure is now contributing to a downplaying of the true impact of the Fukushima accident. Further, slavish reliance on past exposure assumptions is not advisable, not only because these assumptions could have been subject to this type of pressure, but also because every nuclear catastrophe/exposure is different; according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Health, who references applicable research in his report: “Though experiences from the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents provide invaluable guidance, a narrow appreciation of the accidents would not provide proper guidance.” [ Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover, Mission to Japan (15 - 26 November 2012) p 9]

8. A new formulation of the radiological risk coefficient assigned to radiation exposure is needed, as well as a rigorous discussion of the option for more than one such coefficient. Unfortunately, outdated assumptions are still being applied to what is happening to the people of Japan, and others being exposed to radioactivity from Fukushima (and elsewhere). More accurate understanding of the impact of ionizing radiation from both internalized radionuclides, and also across the life-cycle, has not yet been incorporated into risk estimates. “Old” (inaccurate) assumptions do not account for disproportionate harm to females in general, and young children in particular (National Academy of Sciences, BEIR VII page 311, Tables 12D-1 and 12D-2 Lifetime Attributable Risk of Cancer Incidence and Mortality). Official estimates are beginning to acknowledge this reality [World Health Organization, 2013, Health risk assessment from the nuclear accident after the Great East Japan Earthquake...see page 54 section 5.2.2 Results of lifetime risk calculations.
http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/pub_meet/fukushima_risk_assessment_2013/en/index.html ; UNSCEAR press release ( http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/pressrels/2013/unisinf475.html ) and video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyLDNq3VBMU&feature=youtu.be )] however, this impact is not yet incorporated in the regulation of radiation exposure worldwide. In addition, it is no longer valid to omit the impact of internal exposure; risk estimates can no longer assume different types of radiation outside the body have equivalent health impact once inside the body. (See: Yablokov, 2013, "A Review and Critical Analysis of the “Effective Dose of Radiation” Concept" Journal of Health & Pollution Vol. 3, No. 5—pg 13--28.) Finally, it is not clear that exposures inutero, during the initial phases, or over time will be included in the estimate of health risk or consequences from Fukushima.

9. The global organizations charged with radiological analysis and regulation should be generating a real base of monitoring data from Fukushima. Contamination levels in both humans and the environment need to be woven into any health assessments. Reliance on dose reconstruction alone is insufficient and collection of biological data will help researchers observe, not just predict, health outcomes. It is incumbent upon these global organizations, given the amount of information now known about disproportionate impacts from internal exposure; and the disproportionate harm across the lifecycle (human and otherwise) to collect data and calculate exposures directly, not from extrapolations mired in outdated and incorrect assumptions. The UN Special Rapporteur supports collection of biological data to assess internal exposure: "Refrain from restricting examination for internal exposure to whole-body counters and provide it to all affected population [sic], including residents, evacuees, and to persons outside Fukushima
prefecture;" (Grover 2013, p 23)

10. In general, public health concerns need to drive public spending and health assessments; principles of biology need to drive health research not scientific investigation for science's sake. People need proper medical treatment, not data-mining. Japanese People, especially parents, should be told the truth about the medical effects of radiation exposure and have full and open access to the tests that are being performed on them to detect health abnormalities, such as thyroid cancer. All investigations into health abnormalities should include all cancers and other diseases related to radiation exposure. The world must not re-commit the post-war crimes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the radiation victims known as Hibakusha, were only studied by the West rather than helped to heal.

11. Where biological mechanisms or results are unclear, precaution should be used and not be superseded by principles of physics alone because physics is only one of the forces acting to impact health. Research finding negative health impacts of low dosesshould be accounted for, not disregarded. The UN Special Rapporteur, after reviewing such research, recognizes this: “...disregarding these findings diminishes the understanding of and increases vulnerability to health effects of long-term exposure to low-dose radiation.” (Grover 2013, p 6) Unfortunately these concerns extend far beyond Japan today, and per new projections (shown graphically here), impacts are still expanding: http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-326/7/3/034004/article?v_showaffiliations=yes

12 . Those who are displaced from their homes due to radioactivity need to have good options regarding how and where to live that are respectful of their culture and traditions. Consequently, the Special Rapporteur’s report says any relief package should “(i)nclude cost of reconstruction and restoration of lives” (Grover 2013 p 24) This starts by providing them information about radiation in the context of other determinants to health, and this information should not be in the control of parties with financial interests in the nuclear industry.

13. The Fukushima disaster has inflicted suffering from family, social and economic disruption and loss of cultural traditions including food sources and family shrines. These losses are causing visible impacts on the mental and physical health of children, parents, grandparents, and whole communities. While it is radioactivity that will prevent their return to that life, there are many dimensions in which harm has been done. Those responsible for constructing and operating the reactors, and accumulating irradiated fuel, should be accountable to the people impacted. The Special Rapporteur’s report says legal structures should “(e)nsure that TEPCO and other third parties are held accountable for the nuclear accident and that their liability to pay compensation or reconstruction efforts is not shifted to taxpayers.”

14. The Uranium that was in the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi originated from Aboriginal Lands in Australia, where the traditional people opposed the uranium ever being removed from the ground. It is time for the decision structure of our United Nations to honor and include the wisdom of those who truly, if heard, could have prevented this disaster.

15. The Memorandum of Understanding between the World Health Organization and International Atomic Energy Agency should be dissolved permanently. The charge of the IAEA is to spread “peaceful” uses of nuclear technology. This official mandate prevents IAEA from being independent assessors of health impacts of the same technology. Secretary, it is your job to ensure that these reasonable concerns are addressed by action.

Thank you,

Helen Caldicott, M.D.
Founding President of Physicians for Social Responsibility

S. David Freeman
Consultant; Formerly Chairman Tennessee Valley Authority, and General Manager
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, New York Power Authority and Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Steve Wing, Ph.D.
Department of Epidemiology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Steven Starr
Senior Scientist, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Clinical Laboratory Science Program Director
University of Missouri

Dr. Natalia Mironova
President of the Movement for Nuclear Safety

Natalia Preobrazhenskaya, D. Ph Biology
Chair, The Save Children of Ukraine from Chernobyl Catastrophe Charitable Fund
Member, The Public Councill of the Ministry of Health, Ukraine, and Peace Ambassador

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Ph.D
Professor of Business and Social Sciences
Director of the Center for Energiteknologier Danmark
Associate Professor of Law, Institute for Energy and the Environment
Vermont Law School

Jeffrey J. Patterson, DO
Professor Emeritus, UW School of Medicine and Public Health
President, Physicians for Social Responsibility

Alfred C. Meyer, Board Member
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Friends of Chernobyl Centers U.S.

Wolfgang Koehnlein
Retired, University of Muenster
Professor of Radiation Biology and Biophysics

D. M. Grodzinsky, DrSci.
Full Member and Councillor of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
Professor, and Head of the Department of biophysica and radiobiology of Institute of cell biology and genetic engineering of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Ex-Head of the National Commission on Radiological Protection of Ukraine

......................

Another resource:

http://www.radiationnetwork.com/

Welcome to RadiationNetwork.com, home of the National Radiation Map, depicting environmental radiation levels across the USA (Note: and, other countries), updated in real time every minute. This is the first web site where the average citizen (or anyone in the world) can see what radiation levels are anywhere in the USA at any time.

How the Map Works:

A growing number of Radiation Monitoring Stations across the country (and world), using various models of Geiger Counters, upload their Radiation Count data in real time to their computer using a Data Cable, and then over the Internet to this web site, all of this accomplished through GeigerGraph for Networks software. This system is completely automated - there is no manual posting of data required.

How to Read the Map:

Referring to the Map Legend at the bottom left corner of the map, locate Monitoring Stations around the country that are contributing radiation data to this map as you read this, and watch the numbers on those monitoring stations update as frequently as every minute (your browser will automatically refresh). The numbers represent radiation Counts per Minute, abbreviated CPM, and under normal conditions, quantify the level of background radiation, i.e. environmental radiation from outer space as well as from the earth's crust and air. Depending on your location, your elevation or altitude, and your model of Geiger counter, this background radiation level might average anywhere from 5 to 60 CPM, and while background radiation levels are random, it would be unusual for those levels to exceed 100 CPM. Thus, the "Alert Level" for the National Radiation Map is 100 CPM, so if you see any Monitoring Stations with CPM value above 100, further indicated by an Alert symbol over those stations, it probably means that some radioactive source above and beyond background radiation is responsible.

Notice the Time and Date Stamp at the bottom center of the Map. That is Arizona Time, from where we service the Network, and your indication of how recently the Radiation Levels have been updated to the Map.

How to Participate in the Nationwide Radiation Network:

If you want to join this nationwide grass roots effort to monitor the radiation in our environment, then this is all you need (click on the Software link):
bullet Compatible Geiger Counter (See models below)
bullet GeigerGraph Software and Data Cable
bullet Computer with Windows Operating System
bullet Internet Access (Direct connection preferred)

In fact, if you become an active participant in this network (instead of just a passive viewer of this website), the GeigerGraph software that you use will incorporate the same Radiation Map as above, but your map will be fully interactive, with zoom capabilities, descriptions of Nuclear Sites and Monitoring Stations, additional Map Layers, including Counties, Airports, Roads, Railroads, Lakes and Rivers, as well as downloadable City Streets for your county. Plus, in keeping with the elements of a true Network, the GeigerGraph software has its own Chat forum.

Potentially other models that offer Pulse Output through Data Port or Audio Out

Most of these models, as well as the GeigerGraph for Networks software, are available at GeigerCounters.com, a web site operated by Mineralab. Click on the links in the previous sentence to go there.

Disclaimer: Mineralab, LLC, the operator of this web site, can not independently verify that the Radiation Levels, or any Radiation Alerts, that are displayed on this Radiation Map are correct and valid. Among other possibilities, Geiger counter malfunctions or proximity of the counters to certain medical procedures or to radioactive items can cause high readings at a Monitoring Station.

(go to website to click on following maps. More readings are needed in Japan)

A Japanese news agency is reporting that readings of 100 mSv/hr are being emitted from leaking tanks of contaminated water at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Let's put that reading in context. First of all, the dose rate of mSv/hr stands for milli-Sieverts per hour, or one thousandth of a Sievert/hr. In contrast, typical background readings at sea level approximate .1 µSv/hr, expressed as .1 micro-Sieverts/hr. The micro-prefix stands for one millionth, so if my math is correct, the readings of the leaking water therefore amount to 1 million times normal background levels!!!

An operation with potentially "apocalyptic" consequences is expected to begin in a little over two weeks from now - "as early as November 8" - at Fukushima's damaged and sinking Reactor 4, when plant operator TEPCO will attempt to remove over 1300 spent fuel rods holding the radiation equivalent of 14,000 Hiroshima bombs from a spent fuel storage tank perched on the reactor's upper floor.

Fukushima Reactor 4 While the Reactor 4 building itself did not suffer a meltdown, it did suffer a hydrogen explosion, is now tipping and sinking and has zero ability to withstand another seismic event.

The Japan Times explained:

To remove the rods, TEPCO has erected a 273-ton mobile crane above the building that will be operated remotely from a separate room.

[...] spent fuel rods will be pulled from the racks they are stored in and inserted one by one into a heavy steel chamber while the assemblies are still under water. Once the chamber is removed from the pool and lowered to the ground, it will be transported to another pool in an undamaged building on the site for storage.

Under normal circumstances, such an operation would take little more than three months, but TEPCO is hoping to complete the complicated task within fiscal 2014.

A chorus of voices has been sounding alarm over the never-been-done-at-this-scale plan to manually remove the 400 tons of spent fuel by TEPCO, who so far has been responsible for mishap after mishap in the ongoing crisis at the crippled nuclear plant.

Arnie Gundersen, a veteran U.S. nuclear engineer and director of Fairewinds Energy Education, warned this summer that "They are going to have difficulty in removing a significant number of the rods," and said that "To jump to the conclusion that it is going to work just fine is quite a leap of logic." Paul Gunter, MD, Director of the Reactor Oversight Project with Takoma Park, Md.-based Beyond Nuclear, also sounded alarm on Thursday, telling Common Dreams in a statement that "Given the uncertainties of the condition and array of the hundreds of tons of nuclear fuel assemblies, it will be a risky round of highly radioactive pickup sticks." Gundersen offered this analogy of the challenging process of removing the spent fuel rods:

If you think of a nuclear fuel rack as a pack of cigarettes, if you pull a cigarette straight up it will come out — but these racks have been distorted. Now when they go to pull the cigarette straight out, it’s going to likely break and release radioactive cesium and other gases, xenon and krypton, into the air. I suspect come November, December, January we’re going to hear that the building’s been evacuated, they’ve broke a fuel rod, the fuel rod is off-gassing. […]

I suspect we’ll have more airborne releases as they try to pull the fuel out. If they pull too hard, they’ll snap the fuel. I think the racks have been distorted, the fuel has overheated — the pool boiled – and the net effect is that it’s likely some of the fuel will be stuck in there for a long, long time.

The Japan Times adds:

Removing the fuel rods is a task usually assisted by computers that know their exact location down to the nearest millimeter. Working virtually blind in a highly radioactive environment, there is a risk the crane could drop or damage one of the rods — an accident that would heap even more misery onto the Tohoku region.

As long-time anti-nuclear activist Harvey Wasserman explained, the

Spent fuel rods must be kept cool at all times. If exposed to air, their zirconium alloy cladding will ignite, the rods will burn and huge quantities of radiation will be emitted. Should the rods touch each other, or should they crumble into a big enough pile, an explosion is possible.

"In the worst-case scenario," RT adds,

the pool could come crashing to the ground, dumping the rods together into a pile that could fission and cause an explosion many times worse than in March 2011.

Wasserman says that the plan is so risky it requires a global take-over, an urging Gunter also shared, stating that the "dangerous task should not be left to TEPCO but quickly involve the oversight and management of independent international experts."

Wasserman told Common Dreams that

The bring-down of the fuel rods from Fukushima Unit 4 may be the most dangerous engineering task ever undertaken. Every indication is that TEPCO is completely incapable of doing it safely, or of reliably informing the global community as to what's actually happening. There is no reason to believe the Japanese government could do much better. This is a job that should only be undertaken by a dedicated team of the world's very best scientists and engineers, with access to all the funding that could be needed.

The potential radiation releases in this situation can only be described as apocalyptic. The cesium alone would match the fallout of 14,000 Hiroshima bombs. If the job is botched, radiation releases could force the evacuation of all humans from the site, and could cause electronic equipment to fail. Humankind would be forced to stand helplessly by as billions of curies of deadly radiation pour into the air and the ocean.

As dire as Wasserman's warning sounds, it is echoed by fallout researcher Christina Consolo, who told RT that the worst case scenario could be "a true apocalypse." Gunter's warning was dire as well.

"Time is of the essence as we remain concerned that another earthquake could still topple the damaged reactor building and the nuclear waste storage pond up in its attic," he continued. "This could literally re-ignite the nuclear accident in the open atmosphere and inflame it into hemispheric proportions," said Gunter.

Wasserman says that given the gravity of the situation, the eyes of the world should be upon Fukushima:

This is a question that transcends being anti-nuclear. The fate of the earth is at stake here and the whole world must be watching every move at that site from now on. With 11,000 fuel rods scattered around the place, as a ceaseless flow of contaminated water poisoning our oceans, our very survival is on the line.

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